A new acquisition by the County Archives
The Regional Archive of Alt Empordà has announced the entry of twelve historical protocols from 1923 that belong to the notary of Figueres. This collection of protocols is particularly significant as it includes the notarial documents of the father of the famous painter Salvador Dalí, Salvador Dalí Cusí, who worked as a notary in the city of Figueres. In addition to Dalí, other important notaries in the city were Salvador Candal Costa, Ramon Vandellós and Martí Mestres Borrell.
With this new addition, the County Archive reaches a total of 1,876 notarial volumes in custody, covering a period that goes from 1800 to 1923. It should be noted that the protocols prior to this date are deposited in the Historical Archive of Girona. In addition, it should be mentioned that the district of Figueres, where Manuel Regot worked as a notary-archivist for many years, has more than nine thousand volumes.
Content of the protocols
When reviewing the catalog files for this new acquisition, the people responsible for the archive have noticed that there are a large number of deeds of protest for non-payment made by various individuals, as well as numerous sales of small rustic estates in different parts of the region On the other hand, a deed of sale at auction of a plot of land in the “exciutadella” of Roses has been found, made by the mayor Salvi Ferrer in favor of Joan Adolf Mas Yebra of Barcelona for an amount of 85,600 pesetas .
In addition, several auctions have been registered at the customs of Portbou by the administrator Emilio Domínguez. It should be noted that on May 8 a public auction was held in Roses, where twenty-five thousand pots and pans of different sizes and qualities were auctioned, which came from the wreck of the French sailboat Georges André and which were awarded to Pere Martí Rossell. It is also interesting to note that the notary Dalí formalized the protocol of sale of Café Europa, located on Carrer Monturiol, owned by Mercedes de Fonsdeviela, in favor of coffee maker Joaquim Dunjó Robert for an amount of twenty-seven thousand pesetas. Finally, it should be mentioned that the farmhouses Turró and Buscà de Roses, owned by the neighboring couple of Maó formed by the lawyer Pere Pons Vidal and Rosa Madrenas Bonet, were sold to Agustí Guitart and Teresa Vigo Ripoll for an amount of fifteen hundred pesetas
Importance of notarial protocols
The notarial protocols, which are the bound and bound volumes containing the acts authorized by a notary, are a valuable source of information for various scholars. These documents are consulted by researchers from different fields such as economics, institutions, ways of life and work, customs, legal historians and philologists, among others. The documentation generated by notaries over the centuries constitutes a fundamental part of the documentary heritage of our region.